Well, back to business. I miss my blog! Here we go, diving right back into the kitchen. Cookbook number two: Cooking for Two: Perfect Meals for Pairs by Jessica Strand.
(image courtesy of barnesandnoble.com)
In the interest of full disclosure, what I love most about this book is its design. It's very visually appealing, which is muy importante to me when I'm purchasing a cookbook. Let's be honest: most of the fun of a cookbook is flipping through, reading the the recipes, and finding something that looks so irresistible that you must- MUST-- drop all previous cooking plans and start trying that recipe immediately (you're probably starting to get a pretty good idea about how and why I get into so many kitchen conundrums.)
My favorite recipe in this one is for individual chicken pot pies. It's a great way to use leftover chicken and vegetables you have sitting around, and it seems much fancier than it is. The more I cook, the more I start to understand how a recipe works, if it will work, if it's missing something... And so here, I must be honest; as much as I love this cookbook, I have found some flaws, at least in this particular recipe. Flaw #1: it doesn't mention SALT. I'm pretty sure that's an oversight. Believe you me, I followed this one to the letter once, sans salt, and while it was fine, it definitely would have benefitting from a bit of the ol' salty salty. Also, it requires you to make a bechamel sauce for the insides of the pies; once you've learned how to do that, which is quite easy, you start to recognize when a sauce will work, and when it will make dough instead of sauce. This one required too little butter for the amount of flour it called for-- 2 tablespoons butter to 1/4 cup of flour! So I increased the butter to 3 tablespoons and used a scant 1/4 C. Perfect. Here's my adapted recipe after the jump (CLICK READ MORE, MAMA)-- enjoy!
Individual Chicken Pot Pies
adapted from Cooking for Two: Perfect Meals for Pairs by Jessica Strand
1 C. cooked chicken (I use shredded chicken from the whole bird, but you can cube chicken breasts if you have 'em)
1/2 C. sliced carrots (I eyeball this. I usually do about 2 carrots).
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 small potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized bits (I have also used a handful of baby new potatoes, not peeled, to great success)
1/2 c. frozen peas
3 Tbsp. butter, plus a little extra for brushing the tops
SCANT 1/4 C. flour
1/2 C half-n-half (I've used 1% milk without detriment to the outcome, for you calorie-counters)
1 C. chicken broth
a small palmful of dried thyme (small is key here-- not a Rachael Ray palmful)
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. dry sherry
frozen puff pastry (a box comes with two sheets-- you'll use about 1/2 a sheet for this recipe.)
An hour or so before you start, start defrosting your puff pastry so you can separate the sheets. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a steamer basket on the stove, steam your vegetables until easily pierced with a fork, about 8 minutes. If you're using leftover vegetables (remember, the beauty of a pot pie is that you can throw in anything), skip this step (duh.). Rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking once they're done.
In a saucepan over medium/medium-low heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour slowly, stirring while you do so to get it all combined and minimize lumps (it'll be lumpy, but we'll work on that in the next step. Using an actual whisk helps here). Don't let it turn brown! Then slowly add the half n' half or milk, whisking away, then the chicken broth and herbs-- keep whisking! This is where you're going to get rid of the lumps. Let cook (whiskwhiskwhisk) for a few minutes to thicken up and get rid of the raw flour taste (about three minutes). Taste for salt and pepper and add as you please. Then add the sherry, and let the alcohol cook off for about a minute or two. Dump your vegetables and chicken in, and let the flavors meld for a few minutes.
Divide the mixture between your two vessels-- I use some Le Creuset ramekins shaped like bell peppers, but any oven-proof dish/bowl will do. You've seen a pot pie before. Find something that looks pot pie-ish! This recipe actually makes a little bit more than 2 pies, so I've found that I have enough leftover to make Miles a little mini-pie in another ramekin. Cut the puff pastry to fit the top, pinch around the edges to close, then brush tops with a little melted butter. Put your pies on a cookie sheet (just in case--they'll bubble and overflow a bit, plus it makes them easier to get out of the oven). Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and puffy.
Tah dah!
Sounds yummy!
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